Conflict Minerals and the EU Battery Regulation: Due Diligence, Battery Passport and Producer Registration

Regulation (EU) 2017/821 does not apply to everyone buying these metals. It applies to the Union importer of minerals or metals containing or consisting of tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold, as listed in Annex I, and only when the annual import volume for each reaches the threshold set for its Combined Nomenclature (CN) code. These are known as 3TG minerals.

A Union importer is any person who declares goods for release for free circulation, or the person on whose behalf that declaration is made. Therefore, a manufacturer buying components already containing the metal in Spain or another Member State is not a Union importer, nor is anyone importing products classified under CN codes not listed in Annex I.

Thresholds are measured per importer, per CN code and per year. For example: tin ores (2609 00 00), 5,000 kg; unwrought tin (8001), 100,000 kg; gold (ex 7108), 100 kg per line. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1588 established the 5 remaining thresholds, such as tantalum or niobium ores (100,000 kg). The table in this guide lists the main ones.

There are 2 exclusions. Recycled metals are excluded, though if you conclude that the metal comes solely from recycled or scrap sources, you must make that conclusion public and describe how you reached it. Stocks that you can prove were created in their current form before 1 February 2013 are also excluded. Due diligence obligations have applied since 1 January 2021.

First, a management system (Article 4): adopt and publish a supply chain policy in line with Annex II to the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, incorporate it into supplier contracts, assign oversight to senior management, keep records for 5 years, operate a grievance mechanism and maintain a chain of custody for each transaction.

Second, risk management (Article 5): identify and assess risks in your supply chain and implement a strategy to respond to them: continue trading while measurably mitigating risk, suspend the relationship or disengage from the supplier.

Third, an external audit (Article 6): an independent third party reviews your entire due diligence system, covering management, risks and disclosure, and makes recommendations. If you import metals rather than minerals, you are exempt if you provide substantive evidence that all smelters and refiners in your supply chain comply with the Regulation. This is deemed proven if you source exclusively from smelters and refiners on the list published by the Commission.

Fourth, disclosure (Article 7): make audit reports available to the authority, pass on information gained from due diligence to your immediate downstream purchasers, and publish annually, including online, your responsible sourcing policies and practices, together with an audit summary and the auditor's name. This annual report is for the public: it is not sent to the authority.

At Managora, you can instruct us to prepare your supply chain policy, supplier contract clauses, chain of custody procedure and annual public report. We cannot carry out the external audit: the law requires an independent third party, and whoever designs the system cannot subsequently audit it.

Spain has designated 2 authorities: the Subdirección General de Comercio Internacional de Mercancías (Subdirectorate-General for International Trade in Goods), part of the Dirección General de Política Comercial y Seguridad Económica (Directorate-General for Trade Policy and Economic Security) at the Ministerio de Economía, Comercio y Empresa (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business), which carries out ex-post checks, and the Subdirección General de Gestión Aduanera (Subdirectorate-General for Customs Management) at the Agencia Tributaria (the Spanish Tax Agency, also known as Hacienda or AEAT).

Checks are selected on a risk basis, are documentary and may include an on-site visit. Each obligated importer is inspected at least once every 10 years: at the start of the year, importers are selected, their previous year's imports are reviewed and the outcome is notified by December at the latest.

If the inspection identifies infringements, your company has 33 working days to submit a remedial action plan covering, as a minimum, all notified non-compliances. The Regulation does not set its own fines: Member States establish rules applicable to infringements and the authority notifies corrective measures. The text itself tasks the Commission with examining whether authorities should be given the power to impose penalties.

All communication with the ministry goes through the form on its e-office portal titled «Control de importadores de minerales responsables» (Control of responsible mineral importers). You also use this channel to provide the web address of your public disclosures when requested by the ministry. The annual report to the Commission, due before 30 June, is submitted by the Member State, not your company.

If you have been notified of an inspection, we prepare your documentary file and remedial action plan within the deadline, and submit it under your power of attorney. If the form requires your company's direct signature, we prepare everything ready for you to sign and submit.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 applies in general from 18 February 2024; economic operator obligations apply from 18 August 2024, and producer registration from 18 August 2025. It covers all batteries and accumulators, including those incorporated into appliances.

The manufacturer draws up the technical documentation, carries out the conformity assessment, issues the EU declaration of conformity, affixes the CE marking and keeps everything for 10 years.

The importer only places compliant batteries on the market. Before doing so, you must verify that the EU declaration of conformity and technical documentation exist, that the manufacturer carried out the conformity assessment, that the battery bears the CE marking and required labelling, and that safety instructions are included in the language of the country of sale. You must also indicate your name or trademark and postal address with a single point of contact on the battery (or on the packaging if it does not fit), keep a copy of the declaration for 10 years and, if you identify a risk, inform the manufacturer and the market surveillance authorities.

Before selling, the distributor checks that the producer is registered in the register of producers, that the CE marking and labelling are present, that the documentation is complete and that the manufacturer's and importer's details are shown.

A warning for private-label sellers: an importer or distributor becomes a manufacturer, assuming all manufacturer obligations, if they place a battery on the market under their own name or trademark, modify it or change its intended purpose.

Since 18 August 2025, all batteries must bear the separate collection symbol, and those containing more than 0.002% cadmium or more than 0.004% lead must bear the Cd or Pb symbol.

Labels showing general information, capacity and minimum average duration are required from 18 August 2026, or 18 months after the entry into force of the implementing act laying down harmonised specifications, whichever is later. Before redesigning your label, you should confirm which of the 2 dates applies.

From 18 February 2027, all batteries must bear a QR code. For light means of transport (LMT) batteries, industrial batteries with a capacity above 2 kWh and electric vehicle (EV) batteries, the QR code links to the battery passport. For all other batteries, it links to the label information, the declaration of conformity, the due diligence report and waste management information.

The battery passport is an electronic record mandatory from that date solely for those 3 categories. It contains data on the battery model and on each individual battery, including usage data, across 3 access levels: general public, notified bodies and authorities, and persons with a legitimate interest (such as repairers or recyclers). The economic operator placing the battery on the market creates it with a unique identifier and is responsible for keeping it up to date; they may authorise another operator in writing to manage it on their behalf.

Another 2 obligations are phased in by category, and their actual effective dates depend on the Commission adopting the relevant secondary legislation: the carbon footprint declaration (electric vehicle batteries from 18 February 2025; rechargeable industrial batteries, except those with exclusively external storage, from 18 February 2026; light means of transport from 18 August 2028; and industrial batteries with external storage from 18 August 2030) and recycled content, which must be documented from 18 August 2028 and meet minimum percentage targets from 2031. The rest of the timeline is in the table below.

Regulation (EU) 2025/1561 postponed this obligation from 18 August 2025 to 18 August 2027.

It only applies to economic operators placing batteries on the market that had a net turnover of €40 million or more in the financial year preceding the last financial year, or that belong to a group exceeding that threshold on a consolidated basis. It does not apply to batteries already placed on the market that have been prepared for reuse, prepared for repurposing, repurposed or remanufactured, and it does not replace obligations under Regulation 2017/821.

The raw materials covered are cobalt, natural graphite, lithium, nickel and chemical compounds based on these raw materials used in active materials. Note that tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold fall under the conflict minerals regime, not this one.

An obligated operator must have a due diligence policy verified and periodically audited by a notified body, keep documentation for 10 years after the last battery was placed on the market, inform downstream purchasers and publish an annual report, including online, containing a summary of the verification.

On 21 May 2025, as part of the Omnibus IV package, the Commission proposed limiting this obligation to operators with a turnover of at least €150 million. This remains a proposal: as of 15 October 2026, the law in force still states €40 million. At Managora, we prepare the policy and documentation to be submitted to the notified body for verification; the verification itself can only be carried out by a notified body.

A battery producer, including anyone importing batteries inside appliances, must be registered in each Member State where they make batteries available on the market for the first time, and cannot sell there without that registration. The authority assigns a registration number within 12 weeks at most from receiving complete information. Anyone selling by distance contracts from another Member State or from outside the Union must appoint an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility by written mandate in each Member State where they sell.

In Spain, that register remains the batteries section of the Registro Integrado Industrial (RII-PYA, the Spanish Integrated Industrial Register), under the Ministerio de Industria y Turismo (Ministry of Industry and Tourism), regulated by Real Decreto 106/2008 (Spanish Royal Decree on batteries and accumulators), which is still in force. Registration is free of charge and completed using a digital certificate or Cl@ve (Spain's digital login system for public services). Afterwards, the producer submits quarterly declarations of batteries placed on the market plus annual data broken down by type, origin and use, which can be corrected until 25 January of the following year. The producer is always liable for the accuracy of the data.

Registration is checked at the border. Under Real Decreto 993/2022 (Spanish Royal Decree on pre-clearance import controls), SOIVRE (Spain's Official Inspection, Surveillance and Regulation Service for Foreign Trade) inspects electrical and electronic equipment and batteries from non-EU countries before release for free circulation: it checks RoHS compliance and the importer's registration in the Registro Integrado Industrial, and prohibits customs clearance if registration is missing. The application is submitted by the importer or their customs representative through the Agencia Tributaria's ROHS/RAEEs Single Entry Point.

The draft Royal Decree on batteries and accumulators from MITECO (Spain's Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge) underwent public consultation from 30 June to 3 September 2026 and has not yet been approved. Under the draft, the register would move to MITECO's Registro de Productores de Productos (Register of Product Producers) on 1 January 2028 (with the RII-PYA remaining operational until 31 December 2027 and automatic transfer for producers registered before 1 October 2027), and e-commerce platforms would be treated as producers for batteries sold by unregistered sellers.

The customs declaration and the linked SOIVRE inspection request are submitted by your company or a registered customs representative; we prepare your RII-PYA registration details, quarterly declarations, and the technical and registration documentation required for the inspection. If SOIVRE issues a non-compliance notice, we prepare the rectification file for your company or customs representative to submit, and we file any administrative appeal under your power of attorney.

The answer depends on the tariff code and composition: a single shipment can fall under the conflict minerals regime because of an Annex I code and, at the same time, under the battery regime because the appliance contains a lithium battery. That is why the first step is to classify each product accurately and add up the kilograms per code and per year.

With our import assessment for your goods, we determine the TARIC code for each product, calculate customs duties and VAT, and tell you exactly which inspections and registrations apply: Regulation 2017/821 thresholds, RII-PYA, SOIVRE or other producer registers, such as packaging. You can check the current fee on our service page. Other border checks are covered in our guide to CE-marked products, SOIVRE and producer registers, and in our guide to rare earths and magnets from China.